On February 12, 2015, President Obama signed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. The purpose of this act is to provide help to US veterans suffering from PTSD.
This legislation provides funding for the study of new trauma treatment strategies as well as for recruiting more mental health practitioners to work with veterans.
When the bill was voted on, it passed with no opposition. I believe this action highlights a massive shift in thinking within this country over the past few decades.
You see, my generation is sometimes referred to as a lost generation. Thousands of young men were forever changed by their military service during the Vietnam War.
And when they returned, there were few mental health resources available for them.
Fast forward to the present when another generation of young men and women are returning from war. Although much more assistance is needed, we now have more strategies and resources available to address resulting mental trauma, including those newly made available in this bill.
Now, I want to point out that there are many stressful events that can lead to the development of PTSD, war-related events being only a few. While I applaud the passage of this bill overall, more needs to be done for all people who experience trauma and develop PTSD, not just veterans.
One of the reasons that passage of this new bill was possible could be because of new research that illustrates the causes of and harm done by PTSD. For example:
- A longitudinal cohort study published in January’s JAMA Psychiatry found that women with PTSD have twice the risk of developing type 2 Diabetes than non-traumatized women.
- According to a 2014 Frontiers in Psychology review article, PTSD accelerates physiological aging. In addition to increased risk of developing type 2 Diabetes, PTSD has been associated with increased risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular disease.
- We’ve learned that chronic PTSD has been associated with increases in epinephrine and norepinephrine. Epinephrine affects heart rate and blood pressure, while norepinephrine is associated with memory and attention.
- Overall, chronic PTSD is associated with hippocampal atrophy, which is problematic given that the hippocampus plays a role in memory.
There are plenty more negative neural and overall adverse health effects of PTSD, but you get the picture.
PTSD can be terribly debilitating, not only to the person experiencing it, but also to their friends and family members. That’s why it’s critical to learn how we can apply the most effective treatment strategies that are based on the latest research, so we can relieve suffering and help people begin to heal.
What are some of the particular challenges you’ve faced in working with patients who have PTSD? And what are some of the interventions you’ve found most effective? Please leave a comment below.
I use Somatic Release work with trauma survivors as well as my Creative Journal method (as described in my books Recovery of Your Inner Child and The Art of Emotional Healing). The somatic release work releases the trauma stored in the parasympathetic nervous system. The Creative Journal work gives the body and emotions (inner child) a voice as well as the inner artist and intuitive/spiritual self. Reparenting the wounded inner child (body and emotions) allows the individual to move on and embrace the True Self. Trauma survivors often become powerful healers, in my experience. In my training program for professionals, Creative Journal Expressive Arts, many who have recovered from many kinds of trauma using these methods have gone on to become amazing practitioners.
I have been working for several years with an art/relaxation therapy I developed. I work with abused males and females. The young person understands that you cannot change past events but you can let go of the negative emotions related to those events. Diagrams are used and they identify the negative emotions and they draw a personalized symbol or picture that they place the negative emotions in and then visualize the picture after they finish a relaxation/guided imagery session. Two research studies have shown significant decreases in anxiety, aggression, frustration, depression, hyperactivity, and several other emotions and behaviors. The results also show an increase in concentration ability, resiliency, trust, optimism, tolerance, and other aspects of resiliency. Many young people say that this is the best therapy they have engaged in and this is important since they receive a traditional individual and group session each week. Really you cannot explain this therapy in words — you need to see the creative pictures. This therapy seems to be especially effective with abused people who are oppositional, hyperactive, and reactive. The therapy is “run” by the kids because they choose which negative emotions they need to let go of, when they are ready to let go of them, and how much they are ready to let go of in a given session. I have also used this with some adults but since I work at a Residential Treatment Facility, most of the clients are young people.
large number of “pseudoseizures”/PNES in my caseload, most are women who have been subjected to earlier life emotional, physical, sexual abuse and have been “rewired” in their “subconscious”, the psychiatric, psychological, psychotherapy community seems relatively un welmcoming to this type of patient … it seems that Freud and others could do hypnosis or other treatments but todays health care delivery system is impotent to deal with this/these issues, of course also, if it is primarily subconscious, patient may not be open to treatment, any ideas ? …
I have seen many patients with non-epileptic seizures. I have used EMI (Eye Movement Integration) as developed by Steve Andreas and Danie Beaulieu, together with Somatic Experiencing, and the seizures stopped completely. EMI helps the brain to process and integrate the traumatic memories into past tense with complete resolution of symptoms of PhD. SE helps the body to heal by discharging the activation that is held in the body after trauma. The body can complete the incomplete protective or defensive response and restore goodness.
In our setting, we have found neurofeedback and heart rate variability training (HRV) to be the most effective interventions. For single episode trauma, we may refer for EMDR. We are on the list for HC4V (Homecomingforvets.org) to provide 20 free neurofeedback sessions.
Yoga & Tai Chi & Massage/Energy Healing
Despite all the therapies being listed here, I find that when people listen to each other fully, and then work to promote social justice for all, then powerful personal and political change occur. Children who grow up believed fare better than those who do not, and adults who were not believed learn that someone will hear them and affirm them for the strength they have and the power they are. Women, men and children who experience assault do best when our entire society stands up and demands that perpetrators be held accountable. Veterans do best when we as a society tell the truth about the damage of war. There are a million therapies, but nothing in the world beats seeing the meaning of trauma – that injustice is wrong – and changing it. Peace and safety heal PTSD better than anything else.
I agree, as a survivor of rape and abandonment. Thank you for saying this.
My vote is for the MBSR workbook by Bob Stahl & Elisha Goldstein PhD’s. The CD began my journey of healing trauma. 30 mins of qigong and 30 mins of meditation. Retaining the mind, body, & spirit is healing.
Thank You
What a rich and wonderful discussion! Thanks to Ruth and thanks to you all. my PTSD was not diagnosed til after I’d had it for a long time. It was the result of developmental trauma, catalysed in my twenties by three further traumatic events. As I was on a Feldenkrais training at the time I decided to explore this avenue of work as a potential means of healing PTSD (20 years after these events). I was already a Meditation Facilitator and Tantra teacher (Osho Active Meditations), and Reiki healer. (And yoga teacher, horse rider, ocean sailor and professional cook). I would have gone for a Somatic Experiencing training but my nervous system could not tolerate the city living necessary to participate, so I did a few sessions and read Peter Levine’s ‘Waking the Tiger’ and Babette Rothschild’s ‘The Body Remembers’ – I feel my healing greatly influenced by them; I also discovered how Tai Chi and martial arts in general can be useful as part of a healing trauma programme, as when well taught they re-train the fight/flight/freeze responses and are empowering. Family Constellation work taught me about transgenerational trauma. A good chunk of my own trauma was from my maternal grandfather who was shell-shocked in WW1. I am curious how much parents who lived during the two world wars, even if relatively unscathed, took on somatically and passed on to offspring. The background all through my healing is Feldenkrais. I remember what it was like when I found I could feel again – I am in agreement with the person who says none of us are ‘healed healers’ we are all in some way ‘wounded healers’ and it is this which enables us to empathize. In the past three years I have been training in Holistic Counselling which uses Maps of Human Essence to facilitate healing from trauma – I’m currently writing a thesis to gain accreditation and my topic is ‘A movement between trauma and essence’ in which I explore – and have been exploring over the past 19 months, both with myself and with my clients, how to reclaim the essence that was lost at time of trauma – I don’t know if this is making sense, but, what I can say is all that I have listened to in Ruth’s trauma seminar series about the results of contemporary brain science research has been both fascinating, and also fits exactly into the essence work. If your’e interested,read AH Almaas’ books – he and Faisal Muquadam taught my teachers. They are continuing and expanding what the ancient mystics, who taught us Meditation, have been saying for thousands of years, and have taken it a step further, in creating these maps of human essence. When you use this work and you combine it with a somatic method like Feldenkrais it is my experience that you have a pretty powerful toolbox for healing PTSD from childnoold trauma and transgenerational trauma because you can loop out beyond the personality into the essential being, which is always well, and back again, and slowly reclaim lost wellness.
I mention these types of trauma distinct from the one-off traumas, because I personally found no relief from EFT, or hypnosis, and it is my understanding now that silent meditation and also deep cathartis can be equally re-traumatizing – there is something quite particular about complex trauma which needs in my experience much deeper, slower work spread over time.
I was so happy to read the comments about the ‘elephant in the room’ re war. Peter Levine speaks about ‘the Vortex of Violence’ and in my experience it is very clear how trauma and violence are linked. If we can tackle our trauma, and learn to feel safe again and dare to live with open hearts, I feel it will become harder and harder to hurt others. If we can tackle this within ourselves, and impart it to others through living it, morphic resonance will have its way and maybe slowly or, quickly, large-scale healing can happen. It is my sense that studying the Vagal nerve and Steven Porges’ work in Polyvagal theory, and Norman Doidge’s work with Neuroplasticity are revealing new depths of understanding for us all which will speed things up and make even more possible. They will certainly be among my areas of study. Thank you.
I’ve just checked out some of the many comments to this post and would like to thank and congratulate everyone for so much sharing of so many wonderful stories and interventions! What a wonderful exchange and resource this has generated. Thanks Ruth for sparking these discussions! xx
Thanks Ruth, for all kindliness which you have allot passing this media..
Trauma is one of problem which is a lot of met in human life, as natural human being of condition traumatic, perhaps need the attention and understand and also support from its environment or its family. both for in the form of training relaxasi or the meditate, training to accept the reality becoming trauma source step by step, and, doing the pleasant activity to be done by xself and also in group..
Ruth,
Thank you for getting these discussions going. I have found lots to think about.
I have felt for a long time that the repercussions of the first two World Wars had come down through the generations to us. And no less the repercussions of Vietnam or Afghanistan or Ireland for that matter.
Just as I want the abuse within my family to stop (the buck stops with me), there are wider issues in the big world that need addressing.
I have had good success with JinShinDo and a therapist trained in EMDR.
Thank you again for all you do in helping the newest information becoming mainstream knowledge. The research that has been done over my lifetime will help many more people, earlier and to better affect. We have much broader information transfer now with the internet.
My sincere hope is that PTSD will not seem like the life sentence it has been for me over the years. I am much more hopeful than previously. Would it not be a wonderful thing if there were no more wars and no more wounded soldiers either.
We weren’t called “flower children” for no good reason.
Val
EMDR worked well with several of my addicted clients who had a whole variety of traumatising experiences both as children and adults. The shifts were often surprising and life altering as their trauma was processed. The reduction of the chemistry that the trauma triggered meant that treatment became a somewhat simpler problem of just dealing with the drug chemistry. Still a challenge, but more manageable without the cloud of trauma chemicals interfering moment to moment. E M D R should be taught and certified as part of all standard medical, social work, psychiatric and psychology training.
I agree that EMDR should be part of everyone’s training, because it helps to integrate memory. It is based on many of the same principles as Brain Gym(R), but Brain Gym also includes physical exercises as well as intent and novelty: the ingredients that have now been shown to grow integrative tissue in the brain. With Brain Gym, you use visual, auditory and kinesthetic activities with a focus on the core of the body, resulting in very deep-centered change. Have you ever looked into that?
Most effective therapies?
For Parasympathetic freeze, I think EDUCATION about your less-than-optimal state (holding breath, loss of thinking,verbalizing capacity) helps you know when you have tripped into the primitive vagas, into *la la land*
For Sympathetic system FLASHBACKS: Homeopathic meds–Stramonium and Aconite stop flashbacks in their tracks
Hypnosis–regression to gain recall of your version of *the story*
Research Hospital Birth records to glean how you arrived here, as a sentient baby, the RAMIFICATIONS of ALL birth interventions (or rather impediments) inclusive of anesthesia, epidurals, C-Sections, analgesics, forceps, circumcision, domestic violence, attempted abortions, amniocentesis, etc.
Somatic Experiencing to discharge gently
SRT- Self Regulation Therapy- uses internal resources to maintain equilibrium
EMDR- efficacy depends (perhaps too much on the therapist), but releases stuck energy
RET -Rapid Eye Training (do it yourself discharge)
Cranial Sacral Therapy-especially for head trauma, reseats the tissue, calms the system
Walking- the left-right exercise of the corpus callosum helps integrate out of confusion
Journaling, Dream journaling (these seem to be clarifying and empowering)
Mindfulness–especially learning to NAME what is happening inside before you REACT is key to learning to RESPOND instead, creating presence
Having a pet to both care for and touch is very healing to traumatized persons
Tapping (EFT) can help switch away from spiral negative thinking to positive intentional goal-setting
Elena, I have learned and use all of the therapies you refer to in an effort to find a way to help my clients heal from trauma. Education helps therapists and trauma sufferers to understand how trauma affects the body-nervous system- brain- mind- spirit. And all of the mentioned therapies help at some levels. What has actually brought everything together for me, was learning how to use EYE MOVEMENT INTEGRATION also referred to as EMI, as developed by Steve Andreas and Danie Beaulieu. I have used this very effective treatment modality since 2007. Every single patient I have treated with EMI, has healed. And it is the brain that heals itself. It is the most effective, most rapid and most respectful therapeutic modality I have ever encountered. I also used EMDR before, but EMI uses Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements across the entire visual field of the client in specific patterns and in all directions. Most of my clients will exclaim at some point “It seems like a magic wand”. But it is their own brains that do the “magic” healing. It just needs to be guided and reminded and given another chance to heal itself. At last I can also help the reptile brain to “see” for itself that the danger is in past tense and as such can be “saved as” in past tense. What then happens= no more PTSD, no more flashbacks, no more nightmares, no more Non Epileptic seizures, no more trauma related body illnesses. I also teach EMI now. I am so passionate about it. I wish all trauma therapists could know how to use EMI.
I was watching an episode of “Criminal Minds”, about “boogie men” from when we were younger, 4-5-6- years old, it triggered some old feelings about the fear I was living in at that time of my life and the lack of compassion shown by my family, I was and am still traumatized by the “boogie men” in my life. they are there just waiting for me to let down my guard and hurt me. So I am always on guard and aware that I am vulnerable to the “Boogie man” 50-60 years later. I would like to be free of the “boogie Man” and feel safe in sharing my fears. I think awareness is always the first step and so I am sharing this for my own healing. I am aware that I am not alone in feeling these feelings and want others to know that they are not alone either. I have worked as a counselor for 30 years and am still doing my own healing.
Love. Connection. Support. Justice. A safe place to heal. Bonded family. Safe community. Honest communication. Fellow travelers or supporters brave enough and willing to speak and hear the truth and travel through the mourning process with us.
People who go through severe on-going trauma who avoid developing PTSD, for the most part, have those. Those who don’t, don’t.
One thing that strikes me (and has for some time) is how artificial some of our treatments are. Too many are, it seems to me, lesser quality substitutions for, instead of preferential replacements to, the real needs all humans have for solid relationships that enable natural healing.
Those natural relationships, full of human feelings and promise rather than theories and practice, by their nature also strive to address and correct those unjust situations that put people in peril to begin with &/or deprive them of the supports they need to make their way through them successfully and to mourn and heal afterwards. It’s too easy, when concentrating on reducing fear, to forget the need to create loving supportive environments and the need for restorative justice.
I’m impressed by many of the comments here. Too many excellent points to respond to each, so adding my own instead, but grateful to read them.
A very important problem for many, not just veterans, I can appreciate. I laud your dedication, perseverance and skills in engineering programs to address the many who work with those who struggle to heal, so they can take up life-renewed and energized. Hope this program goes very well.
Thank you, Ruth, for the gifted wisdom, skill and endless dedication you bring to your work for healing of so many. I am retiring now and will not be seeing clients or teaching. But much I have learned through NICABM will continue to shape my sensitivity and caring. “May the Force be with you!” Donna Dean
There are a number of efficient ways to treat PTSD, and I discuss several of them in “Energy Tapping for Trauma”, with a focus on various energy psychology techniques. Several other books, videos, and training seminars also cover these approaches, I’ve been treating trauma disorders with EMDR, EP, and some other exposure techniques for about 23 year and also alleviated my own traumas through EP.
I have found the simple relaxation technique developed by Laura Mitchell to be extremely beneficial in teaching that relaxation is a movement pattern. It can be taught quickly and easily, and once learned it is as easily remembered as riding a bicycle. I have also found that breathing is also a movement pattern that has been disturbed by trauma. Thru work of Dinah Bradley from New Zealand and Buteyko I have restored my breathing pattern using my nose and diaphragm. No longer breathing with my upper chest and neck. Breathing Pattern disorders are a part of PTSD that nobody seems to be fully addressing. Also Posture and movement has to be addressed in order to correct Breathing Pattern disorders.
Eft is also extremely helpful in correcting belief systems. I use it with rational emotive therapies -Maultsby- 5 questions for rational thinking.
1. Is my thinking clearly and accurately reflecting the present situation.
2. Is my thinking negatively affecting my emotional and physical health.
3. Is my thinking negatively impacting my long and short term goals and plans.
4. Is my thinking creating conflict with family, friends, work,
5. is my thinking creating fear, anger, depression ,anxiety, ect.
I have found tapping (another movement pattern) while repeating the lines for each point works very quickly in shifting beliefs.
Thank-you taking the time to read these comments.
I have been working for many years with clients with ptsd including veterans. I use the Human Givens approach (www.hgi.org) which utilises breathing to induce relaxation and then the ‘rewind’ technique which is an enhancement of EMDR/NLP – easier in many ways because the person is so relaxed whilst doing the fast forwarding and rewinding of the incidents. The teaching of relaxation and the calming of the hyper alert amygdala is a vital and usually much appreciated component. I also use EFT when it appears beneficial. However, I’ve recently been working with a client with complex ptsd (civilian) for whom the mere mention of the word ‘breath’ is a trigger into disassociation. The person was nearly suffocated on repeated occasions (amongst many other severe trauma over a long period of time). They find it impossible to relax without flashbacks. It is also difficult to speak and hold any image of what happened. Things are slowly improving, I am relieved to say, but I wonder if anyone out there has any other ideas/suggestions or experience that might help? I’d be very grateful. Thank you.
I agree about the “breath”; I had no idea until a massage therapist pointed out to me I was breathing so shallowly. The awareness alone helped me to change the pattern.
I also had some good results with breathing related to mindfulness training.
And I think my favourite retraining came in JinShinDo, where I am concentrating on my breathing to relax into the pressure points.
I too was smothered as a child.
My first experience with trauma began before I even knew the word “trauma”. I grew up in a dysfunctional and abusive home where my father raged and my mother screamed. By the time I was in elementary school, my home was a scarey place, one that couldn’t be trusted. My mother and father didn’t allow the restrictions of their budget to determine their family size. There were a lot of children in our family, each trying hard to manage a very difficult situation. As one of the oldest, I began parenting at age 10, and I was making my own money by age 12. Coming straight out of homelessness with my family, I got myself to college on scholarships and will power. I brought with me trauma and a passion through which I could express my deep emotional experiences – dance. Having received free dance classes from a great dance teacher out of the New York Ballet, I knew how to dance. Unfortunately, most people who excell at dance, come from monied backgrounds that allow them the best training. Not me, I was an oddball. The trauma of pursuing my passion for dance inside a world of art dominated by nepotism, insecurity and bad politics seemed, at times, more difficult then withstanding my father’s violent rages. I made great art, but the trauma added up, and when I was 34 years old, I began having epileptic seizures. My life cracked open as I lost the one bedrock of sanity in my life, my health. There is NO question in my mind or the minds of the few good doctors I found that helped me navigate the both difficult and beautiful boundaries of chronic illness, that trauma created the foundation of my illness. Having not had parents that taught me deep lessons in life, the Universe gave me one – chronic illness. “Come with me,” Epilepsy said, “let me teach you about life; stop, listen, and learn.” Epilepsy became my mentor. One of the deepest lessons it taught me was the depth of the mind’s impact on the body, the integral relationship between energy and matter, mind and body. I always wanted to believe I could just shake the trauma off, leave it behind when the traumatic event was over. I couldn’t, nonone can. Its impact is long and can be so destructive if you don’t acknowledge it and care for it. One of the ways I did this was by writing my first book. Titled, “SEIZED – Searching for Health In the United States”, in it I tell my story of living with chronic illness caused by various traumas and made worse by the care inside a healthcare system as dysfunctional and cruel as my family. It can be found on amazon.com or at the publisher’s website, llumina.com. My name is Holly Eckert. As good as the beautiful dances I made, it’s a book that has received a lot of praise from readers. Trauma has many faces and its impacts are deep and diverse. I’m happy to see this effort being made to address the damages of this diverse experience
Thank you for sharing! Namaste ♡ ♡ ♡
HeartMath is a studied and effective method for working with PTSD. Using the simple breath-based techniques (and optionally combining them with the biofeedback tools they’ve developed), HeartMath tools shift away from the amygdala driven survival responses, down-regulate the adrenal stress response while increasing DHEA, and provide tools that both build general resilience as well as provide in-the-moment means of shifting state. I use HeartMath in my practice regularly (as well as teach it) and have had wonderful results.
Hi Ruth,
I really appreciate all you do to keep us informed about the latest changes in the field of psychology. Thank you! I’ve always loved the mystery of the brain, but was disappointed early on because my psychology professors seemed to know so little. (FYI, this was in the 60’s) Thanks to you, I now understand what was missing then – about how the brain grows integrative tissue – and why Brain Gym(R) is so effective. It totally matches the protocol of intent, novelty and exercise/movement. Have you ever thought about looking into it as a modality for treating PTSD?
Hi Ruth,
The Vet TRIIP programs provide free integrative programs for veterans, service members, their families and service providers living with Post-Traumatic Stress and chronic pain. The Vet TRIIP Integrative Immersion Process (IIP) Sessions were developed based on the full-time PTSD treatment programs at Fort Bliss (Restoration and Resilience Program, Dr. John Fortunato, PhD), Fort Hood/DAMC (Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, Dr. Jerry Wesch, PhD), and Duke Integrative Medicine.
The IIP Sessions are free two hour integrative sessions with volunteer service providers which include therapeutic massage, Reiki/qigong, chiropractic care, acupuncture, EFT, aromatherapy and other modalities in a calming environment. Our veterans report significant reductions in stress and pain levels which enhance engagement and benefits from the existing conventional programs of medications and counselling provided by local DoD, VA and Vet Center staff.
We continue to improve and refine our programs using the profound insights and useful practical applications of the latest innovations in mind science and clinical techniques from the NICABM webinars. Thank you for conducting these interviews with brilliant leaders in mind science.
More information about the Vet TRIIP programs can be found on their website.
The Best,
Bob Deschner, MS, President
I’ve used the NLP phobia technique for years with great success working with PTSD. EFT meridian tapping and Heartmath biofeedback are also good approaches. Important to recognize that these interventions are healing for the brain versus conventional approaches of anti psychotics and prolonged negative emotion states which are damaging to the brain.
As a neurologically trained music therapist I have been working nearly exclusively with Viet Nam veterans.
In the course of treatment we also engage in the mindfullness process of which is accompanied with specific breathing and drumming techniques. These techniques help build the brain’s ability to tolerate and ameliorate the effects of triggers. These techniques may be used at will outside the therapeutic setting.
I have been involved with the Veteran Stress Project as a coach and have had access to the research on using Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT-tapping) with Veterans with PTSD. We have found that their symptoms reduce dramatically, their sleep improves and after 6 sessions of EFT and more than 80% no longer had many of their PTSD symptoms. Several that I know of have gone on to get training in EFT to help other veterans.
Some of my biggest challenges have been the repetitive enactments when patients are triggered – the outbursts of rage, rocketing into states of uncontrollable panic etc. I have been working with them to create new pathways that one can deliberately choose to go on and to rehearse those strategies when not in a trauma-activated state. I have found EMDR to be very useful in this kind of brain re-training and eventually consolidating the gains – especially because EMDR addresses itself cognitively to the creation of new, calmer more empowered states of feeling and acting.
Hello Jacqueline
Found your post and perhaps you are able to help with what we are dealing. Daughter lives in Toronto and we live in the Hamilton area. My husband and I are parents to adult daughter who is pretty well frozen/incapacitated with PTSD. The depression, anxiety, fear, panic in particular, rage at times if we step on an eggshell are mind boggling for us. The only understanding of this behaviour I have is from the studying I have done in the past 2 years since it became evident this is a very very real problem. She needs help.
My source of information has been to learn about the brain from NICABM, Heart Math Institute, Tommy Rosen recovery which I learned are not only about addictions which aren’t only alchohol and drugs, EFT, Gabor Mate’s videos and his book Scattered Brains which I am reading right now and find so very much useful information, sfhelp.org, a Break the Cycle website, saferelationsmagazine.com, an abuse women website – and the Linden Method of dealing with Anxiety. f Mindfulness Meditation by Jon Kabat Zinn.
Yes, I have been studying this so that I would understand what she is going through and respond to her the best recommended manner; as well as hoping that I could learn how to steer her toward seeking the help she needs. She has 2 dear daughters almost 6 and almost 8. Until this came about was the most caring, thoughtful, insightful, sensitive parent I knew. Would you be willing to discuss with me how you might assist us, how long it would take to have an appointment with you
Please respond by email as I do not wish to post my identity.
Thank you
This is an excellent discussion and thanks to all who participated. I have done trauma recovery with holocaust survivors, families who have had a member brutally murdered, sexual assault survivors, survivors of childhood bullying and family of origin dysfunction and attachment trauma. In the four decades I have used and developed many ways in and through. I can testify to the value of Most body interventions such as Jin Shin Do, Trager work, acupuncture, mindfulness training, EFT, somatic experiencing, focusing, proper nutrition, exercise, rest. Certainly I see a relationship between unresolved trauma residue and Alzheimers and other diseases. The key to recovery and facilitating recovery is to use these many techniques in the right way at the right time for the right reason and with the right support so as to reduce the retraumatization and entrenchment of dysfunction. This requires a therapist who is a HEALED HEALER not a WOUNDED HEALER. See my websites and my FB business page: Dr. Sara Joy David, Emotional Wellness for inspiration. Namaste, Ruth et al
I have had good results with JinShinDo recently and only wish I had had the experience much sooner.
I’ve worked with a few groups of veterans with PTSD using Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). As with many people, doing the mindfulness practices on a daily basis was a real challenge. Several in the group, however, reported benefiting from the practices. It was useful for finding peace – described as a calm energy, and relaxation. And several reported being better able to handle their anger in a variety of situations – within family interactions, just during daily activities, and within their self. MBSR works once people are ready to trust the process and do the practices on a regular basis. Several of the people in these groups mentioned they had tried everything else first – medications, counseling, and hospitalization.
I have studied and now practice, Jin Shin Do, a form of Acupressure. It is believed that trauma creates energy that is often stored in the body if not properly released. One of the manifestations is PTSD. The energy that is trapped in the body also causes blockage of energy or chi, which causes physical problems. Using a mind-body technique such as Jin Shin Do acupressure, helps to release the energy so the body and mind can heal from trauma. I have seen great results with it.
Yes, yes, yes.
Anything to release the past that is stored in our cells.
I now add cancer survivor to my list. Too much stress, too many years of wear and tear. My body is really trying to get my attention.
The aftermath of severe childhood trauma is a long list of ills and dysfunctions. I am still working at understanding the magnitude of the abuse and its repercussions.
I see Trauma in the everyday children and teens that I work with. Many of these children live and grow up in homes and have trauma in their lives as an almost everyday part of it . Lack of appropriate parenting, poverty, etc…. Look at the increase in violence in our schools and children. Look at Reality TV having children think that is the way to live, “you need the Drama”…. They almost do not know how to function without it….. That the “Frequency” their brains and bodies are used to functioning in as I say…. What is wonderful though is that beyond that there are the ones who want to stop the cycle and create a better life. The ones that really want to heal and stop all the pain.
I am a private practitioner currently working in Canada. I trained in Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and Life Stress Reduction Techniques (LSR) and I am certified in both. I work with Canadian veterans from Afghanistan and have had very good success using these techniques with them. I will be training in Emotional Freedom Techniques in the coming months as they are very in line with TIR and LSR and can produce amazing change for people. So glad to hear the government is recognizing the desperate need these soldiers have for consistent access to effective treatment modalities.
14 years ago, I was introduced to essential oils and became fascinated with the many ways these concentrated and potent plant remedies could enhance health and wellness. I was particularly interested in how profoundly emotions were effected by the oils, just by simply inhaling them. In learning more about how the olfactory system functions and how it impacts the brain, I recognized how valuable inhaling in various essential oils were to bring the mental & emotional states back to a state of balance. The complex array of chemical compounds found in essential oils can have an effect in uplifting one’s mood, calming anxiety, and relieving stress with relaxing and stimulating effects as well. I have found essential oils to be extremely beneficial in calming down the nervous system and providing relief from chronic fight, flight or freeze. I am able to use my clinical training and knowledge of essential oils to address concerns related to trauma, PTSD and help clients find relief and a greater sense of peace. This allows them to sleep better, memory is improved, and greater tolerance for everyday events is improved. I would enjoy sharing more with anyone interested in learning about essential oils.
As an adult whose childhood was isolated with abusive and emotionally unavailable parents, i was primed for ptsd after 9/11. My office was on the 105th floor of the World Trade Tower #1 on that date. i have been working with a Coherence Therapy superb therapist for just over a year. I feel i have finally come alive–for the first time ever. I found out that understanding the consequences of my upbringing was not enough to enable me to change my behavior. The work with CT has enabled me to OVERWRITE the implicit learning that is no longer necessary for me to be safe. I have replaced the old learning with new learning about who i am, and that i actually have a bit of worth. I have now been able to act in a way that i choose–i do not react nearly as much as i used to. It is nothing short of a miracle!
Could someone have PTSD but be diagnosed as Alzeheimers ? My husband loosed his Mom at a young age and I feel this is something he has always carried with him. Suppressed this loss deep down and never released. He has symptoms of Alzeheimers but does not fit into things that lead to it. Of course they do not know a lot about it. He has had varied interest and could talk about many subjects etc. One thing he did was get deeply , listening every day, into how the government was sending troops into wars , possible conspiracies, chem trails etc. I just wondered if someone condition could be mistaken for Alzeheimers rather than PTSD .
Dear Pat–i think you are on the right track. it may be that it’s not an “either or” but a “both and,” that is, that he may indeed have Alzeheimers and that disease may have been facilitated by the early trauma he experienced over a long period of time due to the loss of his mother. Development trauma is a well documented basis for long lasting and devastating mental and physical health issues. See, The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel Van der Kolk.
(For the record, i personally think that his awareness and interest in the hidden and unspoken activities of our government shows that he still has his critical thinking abilities–not that he has lost them! And that he chooses to be aware, unlike so many who do not want to know.)
You are bang on
I am responding to Pat, Retired Teacher from Florida. She wondered if her husband’s condition could be mistaken for Alzheimer rather than PTSD. I would like to point out cautiously that it might not be helpful for her husband to listen to the “ills” of the government, the conspiracies, because he may just be alerting his amygdala negatively and continuously. I wonder if he can be re-directed to other types of listening and learning pleasure to build a positive neuropath instead. I experienced childhood trauma as “children of war”, and now whenever I hear about war crime, especially impacting children, I say a quick prayer and send positive energy to them, and then I let go. Hope this is helpful.
I thought the “dementia” my aged in-laws were diagnosed with was most certainly from their earlier lives. Father-in-law (94) served in WWII and Mother-in-law(92) had untreated childhood issues. Both of them were drugged when they became agitated or depressed.
Also, my own mother(81) was mentally ill due to her dysfunctional upbringing; near the end of her life I was able to talk with her about tiny parts of it and ask her medical people to be aware of her untreated problems. I was distressed that our nurses thought that the effects of dilaudid, which caused hallucinatory dreams, were “what old people suffered routinely”. It seemed to me she was having flashbacks.
I have worked with those with PTSD due to childhood trauma more then vets, but these approaches are what I found worked: energy medicine, art therapy, somatic therapies, integrative treatment including nutrition, mindfulness, EMDR, acupuncture, yoga… my dissertation and novel/narrative both address these issues.
Chandler, P. (2010). Resiliency in healing from childhood sexual abuse. Dissertation that partially fulfills the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology). ProQuest Dissertations.
Chandler, T. (2014). A journey back to the sacred heart: Reclaiming self after childhood trauma. CreateSpace & Kindle novel. ISBN: 978-1505783247
Thank you Tricia for your insights on approaches to trauma treatment and for your reference to your dissertation. I see trauma, especially developmental trauma in my clients as a predominant underlying issue when facing their psychological and physiological challenges and I am always looking for research that helps guide my practice.
I am a Certified Provider of Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®) created by David Berceli. This is a somatic therapy to initiate involuntary trembling in the body, to discharge pent up fight or flight energy, and thus come out of Freeze or Immobility. It is a short series of exercises that use the muscles most involved with Fight or Flight, and then allowing the trembling to occur. David Berceli has been using this technique to help people around the world for several decades. Right now, he is very focused on spreading the word about it and getting TRE accepted as an approved protocol for people in trauma.
I am also certified in Emotional Freedom Techniques and I have had amazing results with using EFT with clients to release and resolve trauma. I also have training in Inner Child Work, which I blend with the EFT to assist clients to heal their Inner Children.
Thanks for all the great material you are sharing Ruth, –Arden
This sounds similar to the work of Peter Levine; “In an Unspoken Voice, How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness” and “Waking the Tiger”. I have found his work inspirational and helpful.
To supplement your TRE testimonial.
EMDR is the most effective treatment I utilize in treating PTSD. After nineteen years of often using EMDR with clients several times a day, I am still amazed how it releases trauma stored in the nervous system and provides immediate, long lasting relief.
I appreciate your comments Ruth about what we are offering veterans being long overdue. I am a psychologist with has been working with trauma for over 35 years. I am also a Vietnam veteran who served with the Marines, and then was part of the underground movement of veterans back in the 70’s to get the VA to recognize there was such a thing as PTSD. While reading the comments I had an interesting reaction to reading Sue’s comment about the elephant in the room about her feelings about war. My nervous system got activated. I have very complicated feelings about war, as do many of us, and it is just one of many activations I have in working with my clients who have been in war.
About 20 years ago I was asked to teach qigong at a training here in Minneapolis put on by the Center of Victims of Torture. They were hoping a practice of qigong would help the therapists be able to regulate their nervous system. I remember one honest woman participant say to the trainer that she was nervous about how she might react when a client was wanting to talk about being tortured and how would she know if she could handle it or not. The trainer said “Don’t worry, your client will have figured it out, probably unconsciously, long before you do what you can handle and what you can’t.”
The elephant in the room I want to mention is the nervous system of the therapist. I’ve had a therapist who was a voyeur with my war stories, another who was well intentioned but got too quiet and shut down when anything about Vietnam came up. And, I am sure my own clients have accurately picked up my own activations and my own collapses around some of their trauma. Our clients with PTSD, regardless of its origins, have the task of navigating their own nervous systems and ours. As a somatically trained therapist I know we all have trauma and in working with our clients our trauma’s get triggered.
So let’s make room for our own suffering, our own trauma. That is the most effective approach I have found in working with my clients with PTSD. It is quite humbling for me to admit to how often I still get triggered, how much of my own life experience is still needing healing, and how much I suffer in response to the suffering of the world. But it is only my pride that gets in the way of my being with those human responses, and my misguided notion that a therapist should have done all their work and be beyond having any unprocessed trauma. I would love to go to a conference on trauma where one whole evening was focused a group ritual of processing our trauma, be it primary or secondary trauma, where we could hold each other and weep and wail, get soothed by each other, and for a few hours feel the camaraderie of being in a community of fellow sufferers seeking intimacy through authentic embodied connection. Now that would be a conference I would surely attend.
Thank you, Patrick, for your honesty and your call to arms of compassion and connection. Ho!
Yes!
FELDENKRAIS Functional Integration & Awareness Through Movement helps to rewire the brain…
(a well-kept 60+ year secret!)… while Rubenfeld Synergy gives the unfinished emotional business a voice!
I am a Corpsman with Marines and flew Med Evac during the TET offensive in Vietnam. I understand PTSD personally and professionally. I worked with my wife who is a Psych Nurse Practioner and worked for VA 26 years doing group EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique. We got good results. The veterans we worked with wanted more of this modality but when my wife retired from the VA we were not allowed to continue in the VA
are you going to report on neuro-feedback- much recommended by v.d. kolk?
Reiki practice gently down regulates the nervous system, relieving symptoms of PTSD and engaging the system in self-healing. It is common for people with PTSD — veterans and others — to not only feel a lessening of symptoms, but also to sleep through the night after their first Reiki session, even after years of insomnia.
A study we did at Yale, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, documented improvement in heart rate variability (HRV) comparable to beta-blockers after 20-minute Reiki treatments given by nurses to patients in the cardiac ICU within 72 hours post-MI.
HRV is a critical measure of the resilience in a system, and the data in that study suggested vagal activation. Of course we would like more studies; meanwhile more people could be benefiting. Reiki practice is non-invasive, low-cost, and as effective in self practice as when received from someone else.
The near immediate benefit to people in distress is so unmistakable that Reiki treatment has come to be offered in many prestigious hospitals, usually as part of comprehensive cancer care, in advance of research.
The main obstacle is that Reiki, like meditation, is a home self care practice, without regulation or agreed-upon standards for training or treatment. Competencies vary enormously among Reiki professionals, and neither the public nor health care professionals — and certainly not the military — realize Reiki credentials are meaningless.
Here is the link to the Yale article on the JACC site
The Elephant in the room is causing trauma not just for those in the war but for all humanity, even those of us who just witness the results whether it is in person, or in the news . We know the cause in many cases, can we not come into sanity by dealing with the cause and live in harmony or at least with tolerance. How to do this would truly be news worthy.
As a survivor of child abuse, the therapy which worked best for me was EMDR.
I also find some help with EFT.
I have found Dr Richard Miller’s evidence-based Integration Restoration (iRest) to be most helpful with my veteran clients
I second the recommendation for iRest. We know that meditation can be especially helpful for people who have a history of trauma AND that it can be especially challenging for this population. Part of the problem is that focusing on the breath without also having some other focal point for one’s attention, can be a trauma trigger. Yoga and iRest offer alternative focal points.
Working with shame, I hear “I should be able to sit quietly and focus on my breath.” This becomes what I call a ‘shame-producing should,’ when really the problem is that there is not widespread acknowledgment that focusing on the breath can be a trauma trigger – and that from an adaptive perspective, this actually makes sense.
Qi gong is a wonderful practice for body and mind
There is also evidence of PTSD in children under 48 mo of age. See onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1097-0355%28199524%2916:4%3C259::AID-IMHJ2280160403%3E3.0.CO;2-T/abstract
This is invaluable as untreated/unresolved war trauma can create a cascade of boundary violations, abuse or disconnection in the family. Anngwyn St. just wrote a great book Called “Men Women and War” that details what vets and families may face.
I am teaching in Germany now and just used Somatic Experiencing and Somatic Attachment Therapy to help a colleague process through intergenerationally held trauma – a visceral experience of disgust, immobilization, an icy pelvis related to the freeze response and a loss of her legs to dissociation when she accessed her grandmother’s terrible experience as a refugee with 2 small children in WW11. Long story short, she eventually released very strong rage, nausea and the frozenness, reconnected to her legs and was able to differentiate into the freedom of her own life. Just the point that we can help the brave veterans returning and it is one of the most important mandates for all of us as therapists. I am so happy Ruth and the government point to and are actively supporting this invaluable work.
I feel the somatic approaches are essential for healing the horror of war and to honor the heroism of the warrior in deep service as well. Stephen Porges, Peter Levine, Belleruth Naperstak are all very important resources to learn what is needed to free the body and soul from such deep trauma.
I worked as a mental health clinician for veterans for many years. Three things come to mind after reading this article. One is the unmentioned (in the article) phenomena of increased likelihood of developing PTSD if other traumas were experienced prior to the war theatre exposure. One wonders why the Military does not screen their applicants more carefully.
I found mindfulness based (and other sensorimotor body-based) therapies to be quite effective in treating PTSD, for example Richard Schwartz’ Internal Family Systems Model. I used it as a psychiatric practitioner and found it to be more effective than the classic and newer therapeutic models used by VA (CBT, prolonged exposure, e.g.).
I feel compelled to stray from the topic and make a political comment. I apologize for “changing the subject,” but found the non-mention glaring — the “elephant in the room” as it were: WAR IS BAD AND CAUSES/CONTRIBUTES TO DISEASES AND DISORDERS, INCLUDING PTSD.
Congress has passed a long overdue bill to address psychiatric trauma resulting from war? Why doesn’t Congress pass a bill addressing the issue of its (the government’s/our sociopolitical economy’s) addiction to a perpetual war economy, with the aim of PREVENTING further exposure to the cause of these disorders and diseases? How about a bill addressing the issue of ongoing rape of its female soldiers, a bill that would force the entrenched Military structure to change?
We send these vulnerable young men and women into the war theatre to face unimaginable horrors, then try to piece them back together (if they return alive). There is a better way.
Sue, this is well put. The elephant in the room indeed, thanks. I have thought much in similar ways.
Its the disorders of humanity which causes wars – and the economic systems that arise and perpetuate the wars – which in turn are reflected by, and are a reflection of family systems. I have for long thought along these lines. The intrapsychic and the interpersonal … and it needs to be addressed at these levels.
River
Agreed. It’s a humanity issue. A “government” or other entity is made up of individuals who grew up in families, like we all do. That’s where the wounding and the trauma begins.
I use tapping therapy (EFT)